Author: Chris Ostrander

Drawing the line on rumors

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Remember 2006? Message boards and a mysterious man who assigned strange values to his “inside” information were the two main sources of hockey rumors on the internet. Such wonderful times.

Today, Mr. Eklund has probably even lost his grasp on the silly rumor monger title he snatched up in the mid-2000s. That dubious crown is probably worn by some teenagerr whoo livess aroundd Ottawaa. Or something.

Fact of the matter is that tools like message boards and Twitter have shrunk the hockey world down to a 140 character-driven society in which bloggers, main stream media and anonymous guys all clamor for a voice in an ever crowded circle of conversation. This is something I’ve often stayed far away from but I was truly sucked in at the trade deadline. Continue reading →

Sabres taking shape as free agency looms

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There wasn’t much noise coming from First Niagara Center for most of June as Darcy Regier, Ron Rolston and company did their work without much outside contact.

Then came Sunday’s draft and the wheels were quickly put in motion as Regier began to shape his vision for Buffalo’s rebuilding process. Shortly thereafter, Joe Sacco was brought on as an assistant for Ron Rolston’s staff and the free agent courting process has officially begun.

Looking at the entire draft, there is very little to be upset about. Regier not only addressed an organizational desire for size and grit, he did so on the blueline. Rasmus Ristolainen is expected to be NHL ready which would make the bounty gained in Newark that much more impressive.

Outside of the two big defensemen, Regier scooped up plenty of offensive talent in rounds two through seven and stocked his cupboards well moving forward. But it’s the change that has come to the main roster that has caught my attention.

Regier is in full rebuild mode these days. By trading out Andrej Sekera for Jamie McBain (and the pick that became JT Compher) he shipped out a valuable commodity who contributed well last season. He also unloaded a player who probably could have used a fresh start on a new team which winds up being a win-win in my book.

Moving Sekera, to me, made sense. He had plenty of market value and should have been able to bring a strong return. Allegedly he was valuable enough to get the Sabres to the fifth overall pick, but Regier opted to bring in the extra pick along with McBain as opposed to just moving up three spots.

Give him credit for finding full value there. It seems as if Ristolainen was on top of Buffalo’s board after the big four prospects and with none of those players falling out of the top four, there was no reason to reach for their Finnish defenseman. In doing so, Regier still came away with Ristolainen while also snagging McBain and Compher. Once again, give him credit for getting full value.

The McBain acquisition was followed today by the buyout of Nathan Gerbe. While the move surprised many, it was a smart choice and will serve as a way to clear some additional space for those prospects who are making their way up the pipeline. Continue reading →

The Instigator 2.8 – Cool Draft

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Eric and I got together once again for an Instigator Podcast. In this episode we discuss the Sabres decisions at the draft table, the Andrej Sekera trade and whether or not Ryan Miller or Thomas Vanek will be on the team next season. As always, we close things with plus/minus.

Have a listen and feel free to share feedback:

Briere is more of an option than you might think

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Eight years, $52 million. That was the deal that lured Danny Briere away from Buffalo on that fateful July day that so many hockey fans in Buffalo continue to circle back to.

Six years after signing his massive deal, Briere is set to be bought out at the age of 35 after injuries limited a few seasons in Philly and a particularly ineffective 2013 campaign made him a prime buyout candidate. As he prepares to hit the free agent market in search of a deal well south of the $6.5 AAV he earned in Philly, does it make sense for Briere to come back to don a Sabres uniform?

It just might. Continue reading →

Enroth deal, market, setting stage for Miller

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The writing appears to be on the wall. Jhonas Enroth’s two-year, $1.25M extension signifies an investment in the young Swede and with Matt Hackett expected to sign an extension of his own soon enough it would appear that the Sabres are prepared to move on without Ryan Miller.

This should surprise exactly no one as the relationship between Miller and the organization (fans and media too) appeared to be slowly fraying last season as the Sabres spiraled to the bottom of the Conference. As the season came to a close most assumed that Miller’s 500th would be his final game as a Sabre.

If both Enroth and Hackett sign it would represent not only the changing of the guard in the Buffalo goal crease, but a culture shift away from a big-money, number one netminder to a 1A, 1B tandem between Hackett and Enroth.

Assuming Hackett gets somewhere in the neighborhood of $925K, Buffalo will have just over $2M invested in their goal crease. Add in the looming trade of Miller and winds up being a savings in the $4M range. For a team with a decent amount of cap space to begin with, that is a huge amount of wiggle room. Continue reading →

2ITB Stanley Cup Final prediction

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I realized that I failed to put up a Stanley Cup Final prediction. I did one for one of my other blogging gigs at Great Skate. Read my thoughts here.

Drafting the Sabres: All-Time greatest picks

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With the draft just two weeks away, I’ve been taking a look at some different points in Buffalo Sabres draft history. As the Sabres enter a draft with two valuable first round selections and two more second round choices, I thought I’d take a look at the best players selected in each round throughout franchise history.

Much like the All-Time first round picks post I ran earlier this week, this is to serve as a comprehensive breakdown of the best player the Sabres have found in each round of the draft dating back to their first selections in 1970. While the draft extended upwards of 12 rounds years ago, I only took this to round 10 as the pickings were slim enough past the seventh round. In addition to the primary choice for each round I will add in other, random, picks from throughout Sabres history. Some will be great picks while others will be fun to remember where they were chosen.

Starting with the first round, here is the All-Time Sabres draft breakdown: Continue reading →

Drafting the Sabres: All-Time first round selections

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For the second-straight year, the Sabres enter the NHL Entry Draft with a pair of first round selections. Slotted in at eight and 16, the Sabres will have the opportunity to round out their portfolio of first round picks at an even 50 after 43 years of drafting.

In honor of picks 49 and 50 being made at the end of this month, I went through each of the first round picks the Sabres have made and have compiled a fantasy draft, of sorts, that chronicles the best selection made at each pick in the first round throughout the Sabres history.

There are ten spots the Sabres have never picked. Picks two, three, four, eight, nineteen, twenty-five and twenty-seven through thirty. Buffalo has made a handful of supplementary picks in some of those spots, but I chose not to include them in this practice. Starting with the 30th selection, here is the All-Time Sabres first round: Continue reading →

Northtown Center changes not for the better

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A little while back plans were put in place to roll out significant improvements to the “feature rink” at the Northtown Center in Amherst. The renovations were going to focus on the antiquated design of the benches and penalty boxes while also installing new boards and seamless glass.

The new benches, boards and glass at the Northtown Center. Not pictured: Horrible attacking zone dimensions.

UB Bull Run happened to have some specifics on the project when it was announced and I had the opportunity to play on the rink for the first time since the project wrapped last night. I can unequivocally say that the cosmetic improvements were great, but the playing surface was sacrificed as a result. Based on the way the rink is laid out, it’s a shame that a junior program and competitive collegiate team will use this rink as their home for the coming winter.

The most noticeable difference is the gleaming new boards and glass. Seamless glass runs between the hashmarks with traditional, blue trimmed stanchioned glass rings around behind each net. In addition, the penalty boxes and benches were expanded from their previously miniscule dimensions to just kind of small dimensions. The boards are fresh and look great and the entire package will look very cool for UB and Jr. Sabres home games as the blue stanchions will look right at home. However, the new boards provided the opportunity to alter the layout of the rink and those in charge of the Northtown Center took the bait. I wish they hadn’t. Continue reading →

Familiarity may cloud judgment on choice of Rolston

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Ron Rolston’s return was somewhat expected. He wasn’t a total catastrophe during his stint as Buffalo’s interm bench boss and he was rewarded with the removal of the interim tag at a vote of confidence as Buffalo’s head coach moving forward.

While not too many people were happy about it, I’ve been left wondering one thing: Isn’t this exactly what everyone wanted?

The sluggish start to the regular season eventually led to the axe falling on Lindy Ruff with Rolston stepping in to fill Ruff’s 15-year old shoes. He did so with a carryover coaching staff and what ended up being a significant portion of the Rochester Americans opening day roster in front of him. With the season wrapped, the Sabres let both Kevyn Adams and James Patrick walk away, leaving the door open for Rolston to bring in a coaching staff of his choosing. Therefore, once the 2013-14 season begins, the Sabres will have a brand new coaching staff behind the bench; precisely the type of cast they have clamored for over the past few seasons.

Obviously Ron Rolston isn’t the sexy choice for anyone. He’s a relatively mild mannered guy who won’t make too many press conference highlight films. Some have said he’s a carbon copy of the GM and I can’t say I disagree. This is probably why everyone is so upset at the choice of Rolston as the permanent coach. Not so much because he doesn’t have the potential to be a good coach, but because his name isn’t Patrick Roy and he was likely cherry picked by the browbeaten GM for the role. Continue reading →